It's the term Bryan Garner uses for words that are inconsistent in meaning in a way that makes them difficult to use effectively: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

It's the term Bryan Garner uses for words that are inconsistent in meaning in a way that makes them difficult to use effectively: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skunked_term https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skunked_term I'm not sure what his origin was for the term, but "skunked" as an adjective to me indicates a beer that was spoiled by exposure to light and/or heat. It's gone off.